We Should Be Encouraging Doctors To Give Nutritional Advice

Monday 14 November was World Diabetes Day, which was marked by the release of a report from Diabetes Australia. The report stated that there are now over a million Australians diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. The total number of Australians with diabetes could be up to 1.7 million people, as the number of Australians currently with undiagnosed, “silent” Type 2 diabetes is unknown.

In addition, the number of people with pre-diabetes and at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes is also unknown, but estimated to be around 2 million. Complications of diabetes are a major health issue with 4,400 amputations of toes, feet or limbs and 3,500 people with diabetes needing kidney dialysis in the past 12 months alone.

The third, related medical item of interest was the revelation that a Tasmanian orthopaedic surgeon has been banned by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority (AHPRA) from giving nutrition advice to his patients.